Swell Contests: Vintage Swimsuits

Ready for a super-easy contest entry?  You are? Okay, great... sign into Facebook, go to Unique Vintage and "like" the page. Pick out your favorite. Fill out your contact info - that's it! Good luck and let me know if you win.

Image credit: Unique Vintage, via Facebook 

Swell Shopping: Romantic Dresses

I worked three different jobs this week. No joke. I started the week as a landscaper, then moved to school secretary, back to landscaper, tried a day as car detailer, and I'm ending the week as I began it - landscaper. I came home for lunch and decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. I'm pooped... and I need to get over to my mother-in-law's house to help with her garden.... but before that, I decided to do some screen-shopping for dresses...


I love dresses. You slip on a dress and you've got an instant outfit, plus everyone sees you as dressed up when in reality you are wearing something super-comfortable. It's almost like cheating.

River of Romansk has some beautiful dresses that are surprisingly affordable and I like the sizing - lots of one size fits most. Here are a few of my favorites....

These dresses have some super long names, for example this one is Riverofromansk Classic Romantic Spring Chiffon Secret Garden Twilight Cocktail Satin Elegant Pleated Flare Taupe Gray Silver Moonstone Dress. This dress fits sizes 2 through 10, is 36 inches in length, and it runs $39.85.

Find more dresses after the jump... 

Swell Smells: Absinthe Sucre Perfume

Back in the day, I worked for a blogging network as a perfume reviewer. Oh man, did I love that job. Free perfume, fancy-pants free perfume, and then I got to write about it.

I have to say, that much of it smelled very similar after awhile. Especially when it comes to many of the celebrity scents (sweet, sweet, sweet, candy-sweet).  I love to find something that smells spicy or woody or smoky. I was poking around Etsy today and I happened upon Absinthe Sucre Perfume.  It's billed as sweet, but there are just enough spicy notes to catch my interest. I'm definitely going to order this one in the near future.

Notes: Fennel, Anise, Wormwood, Cream, Carmelized Sugar, Vanilla, Tobacco, White Musk

Here's a quote from the Perfumer....

La Fée Verte... We all know her tawdry history. Her popularity among all classes of imbibers, from aristocrat to the bohemian set, from bourgeois to the poorest of the working class. Her rise, her fall... her branding as a "ferocious beast", a "slayer of men"... and now, her rise again.

My interpretation of this beloved verdant elixir is The Green Fairy on a sugar binge....

You can find Absinthe Sucre Perfume Oil at the Midnight Gypsy Shop. It's only $12 for a 7.5 ml vial.

Image credit: Midnight Gypsy at Etsy

Swell Fitness: I Walked and Walked and Walked

The date on my last post was August of 2011. I miss writing, but my focus has been on my outside jobs for the past almost-year. I'd like to get back into the swing of things, make regular post updates. Today is the first....

Yesterday, I was looking at Pins and I saw one that said something along the lines of  "Tomorrow is June 1st. Start it strong." I somehow lost track of the page that held the pin (dang!), but the idea stuck in my head. I spoke with my girl, Sarah, about getting busy with the fitness and she was game.

Cut to today.... I work a number of jobs. One of them is landscaping at a nearby ranch. My husband is the ranch hand and sometimes I help with the ranch end, rather than the landscaping end. We have an outbreak of Marlahan Mustard in our area. It's an invasive, noxious weed that crowds out the plants that are supposed to be in the area (as in hay or grain). My job was to walk the ranch (it's a good-sized place) with a shovel and cut the plants "crown" off. I did this for 5 hours, walking up and down each field, in close-ish lines, in order to not miss any of the mustard plants. I'm estimating that I walked at least 12.5 miles in that time. With a shovel in my hand. I was walking at a decent pace, but I had to stop and dig the plants out over and over, so it slowed me down a bit. I was so proud of my hard work - heck yeah, I started June strong..... then my husband called me. He said our puppy was lost (I was home, eating lunch), and he needed me to come back to the ranch and help him search for her, plus the cows got out and we needed to move them as well. Ouch.

It took us almost 4 hours, but we finally found her and put the cows back where they belonged. I'm estimating that I walked close to 18 miles throughout both the mustard and puppy searches, but I entered in 15.5 at Daily Mile.com.  I like to be conservative with my mileage estimates, because it's important to me to earn each and every mile.

Okay, so this was a post... maybe not the most exciting, but it's a step in the right direction. Have a great day!

Swell Nutrition: Blackberries

Is it Blackberry season in your area? It is here! I love Blackberries. As a kid, I lived out in the country and there was a huge bush (I'm talking more than 8 ft tall) about 30 steps from my front door. My sister and I would stand there and eat straight from the bush, always keeping an ear alert for rattlesnakes, because you know what - they love Blackberry bushes, too.

There are two bushes on my current bike training route. The other day I took a zip lock and filled that sucker up. My favorite way to eat the berries is raw, but with a couple of steps you can make a good Berry Crisp for desert or you could freeze the berries for smoothies.



To freeze them, first rinse in a colander, drain well, then lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet or shallow pan, allowing space between the berries so they freeze singly, not stuck together. Put the pan in the freezer, then when berries are hard, take them off the pan and put them in a freezer bag. Use as needed for smoothies, snacks (accidentally typed "snakes," because I've got snakes on the brain), or recipes.



Some quick nutritional data on Blackberries....

1 cup Blackberries have....

*62 calories

*8 grams of Fiber

*50% of daily required Vitamin C

*Blackberries are a good source of Vitamin E, Folate, Magnesium, Manganese, and Vitamin K



Image credit: Chase Your Bliss Photography

Swell Beauty & Swell Gadgets

So many mascaras, so little time.... Need some makeup guidance?  Sephora has a new iPad app that should do the trick....

Determine the right mascara for you using the Sephora iPad App!The interactive Sephora Mascara Guide exclusively available through the new Sephora iPad app, allows you to shop, compare, read reviews and zoom in on the each unique wand component to help you analyze which mascara is best for you!  The Sephora App for iPad is free to download from the iTunes App Store at www.itunes.com/appstore.

There really is an app for anything...

Swell Skin: Sebamed Soap-Free Cleanser

I was recently sent a bottle of Sebamed soap-free cleanser to try for review. Sebamed is intended for both face and body. It's formulated with a low pH, which makes it a great choice for anyone with sensitive skin.

The Science Behind Healthy Skin

Every sebamed product is meticulously formulated to a pH balance of exactly 5.5 - precisely the pH of healthy skin. This is essential in maintaining your skin's natural hydrolipid barrier against environmental stress. Any other pH level, such as found in soap may leave your skin open to break-down and deterioration. Discover what 150 clinical studies have already shown -- pH 5.5 is vital for healthy skin.

I have the bottle in my shower, where everyone in my family can get to it. It's intended for use on both the face and the body. It's very gentle and doesn't leave my face feeling dry or tight. My husband has a fair freckled complexion. He has a lot of trouble with soaps and washes irritating his skin - poor kid gets super-itchy. He's been using the Sebamed for a couple of weeks now and I've noticed a definite lack of itchiness. Sarah has 13-year-old skin and it's working great for her, too (no breakouts). 

Formulated with Vitamins B5, B3, B6, and H, Sebamed would also work well on a baby's sensitive skin. It reminds me a lot of the Phisoderm my mom used to get. Your skin feels clean, but comfortable after use. You can find more info here.



Image credit: SebamedUSA.com